This description relates to characterizing states of subjects.
In diagnosing a medical condition of a patient, for example, a doctor can apply her experience and knowledge to health-related information about the patient (for example, age, weight, body temperature, symptoms, medical history) to classify the medical condition. Frequently, the health-related information includes images captured by a variety of modalities (x-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging). Correlations exist between health related information about populations of patients and medical conditions of those patients that enable an experienced doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. It is commonplace for the doctor then to create a medical report that captures the health-related information and the diagnosis.
Traditionally medical reports are created by hand on paper and stored in paper files associated with the patients. The language used on medical reports to describe medical conditions has become standardized in many cases, and skilled doctors are accustomed to making careful use of the standardized language so that other people who read the reports will find them clear and understandable.
Computer-based systems have been developed to aid medical professionals in accumulating, storing, and analyzing health-related information about patients and in producing clear and accurate medical reports quickly and easily. Among other things, there are templates available that help the doctor to consistently use well accepted terminology and to produce medical reports that are complete and accessible quickly to others.
The quality and accuracy of the classification and characterization of states of subjects varies widely depending on the skill, experience, education, training, and other factors associated with the people doing the classification and characterization. For example, in some areas of the world, pathologists perform their work less effectively, less efficiently, and less accurately than in other areas of the world, due largely to less adequate or suboptimal educational opportunities, among other things.